BA (Hons) Media Production

If you want a career in the media industries, this hands-on Media Production degree offers the skills and opportunities you need. The course concentrates on the three most important aspects of media production – TV, radio and new media. You’ll begin studying all areas of production, gaining practical skills to produce content across different platforms and media. You can then specialise in TV, radio or new media, with awareness of how they intersect in the modern world.

Students studying the Media Production degree at our Cardiff campus benefit from an expert teaching team, many of whom have professional media industry experience and excellent industry contacts. With Cardiff at the centre of one of the UK's most dynamic media industries, it's the perfect place to launch your career.

Our Media Production graduates have gone on to positions in the BBC, ITV, S4C, Made in Wales TV, Boomerang, Indus, Media Wales, Sky Sports and Sky News, alongside many other media outlets and PR companies. USW's Media Production degree is also part of Film & TV School Wales, which provides students with the skills and opportunities needed to work in today’s exciting TV and Film industry.

The first year of the Media Production degree includes practical production modules focused on concept development and an introduction to script-writing, video, audio / sound design and interactive design and construction, balanced with a theory module to help develop your understanding of the industry. The focus of the first year is to explore and develop your creativity and identify your chosen area of interest within the industry.

During the second year you will begin to specialise further within production teams by developing your skills within your preferred production roles on factual and fiction shorts, commercials, promos and within interactive story-telling. You will also develop your professional practices through working on ‘live’ external client briefs.

In between the second and third years of the Media Production degree, there is an opportunity for students to undertake a year’s work placement, and gain valuable work experience to enhance future employment prospects.

The final year will provide an opportunity for you to set up production teams to complete your Major Projects; your role in a Major Project will be focused on your specific area of interest. The Major Project will be supported by your personal research project, which will provide the basis for your approach and involvement.

Year One - Media Production degree

Visual Production Techniques – Studio & Location

Sound Design & Audio Production – 1

Interactive – Design & Construction

Critical Culture – One

Creative Analysis and Development

Year Two - Media Production degree

Visual Production Techniques – Short Fiction

Sound Design & Audio Production – 2

Interactive – Storytelling

Client Brief – Professional Practice

Critical Culture – Two

Concept and Script Development

Year Three - Media Production degree

Cultural Context Research Project

Major Media Project – Development Package

Major Media Project – Production

Professional Freelance Practice

Teaching

The media production degree is taught through a range of lectures, seminars and practical workshops that reflect the mixture of hands-on work and the thinking that informs the course.

You will have timetabled lectures for three days. However, you are required to undertake self-directed, independent study for the majority of the rest of your week, outside of timetabled sessions.

You will also develop a professional portfolio, show-reel and a social media presence through targeted workshops, along with learning essential skills to prepare you for freelance working in the media industry.

Not forgetting that you would be studying in Cardiff, one of the UK’s major Television and media industry centres, from where dramas such as Sherlock, Dr Who, Casualty, Stella, Gavin & Stacey, Born to Kill, Safe House, Journeys End, Decline and Fall have been produced.

And not only are there the major Bad Wolf, Pinewood, BBC and ITV studios in Cardiff, there is now an independent TV production industry of over 600 firms.

Assessment

Your practical work will be assessed through coursework and assignments, including a mix of group work and individual projects.

Placements

Working to ‘live’ briefs with external clients, under the supervision of your tutors, is built into a number of your modules across the three years of your course, in order to fully prepare you for working independently, professionally, and intuitively, with clients.

There are also a number of work experience opportunities that are offered to our department by Media Industry employers, and external clients, throughout each year, which we pass on to our students.

These have included working on Dr Who, Sex Education, Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor, The Big Question, X Ray, Crime watch, TedX; at studios like Bad Wolf and Pinewood, for major production companies such as the BBC, Netflix and Channel Four and independent productions for Rhod Gilbert, VOX, Amplified Business Content, Jolene Films, and more.

All that you require to develop the skills and confidence to record and mix sound for Live and Pre-Recorded Radio broadcast, Location and Studio sound for Factual and Drama productions including Audio Books, Animation; TV Studio sound sound and foley for Screen Drama, Documentaries, Gameplay and Interactives.

Lecturers

The entry criteria below shows the qualification range within which the University will make offers. Most offers we make are at the top of the range, but we take all aspects of an application into consideration and applicants receive a personalised offer. Combinations of qualifications are acceptable and other qualifications not listed here may also be acceptable.

Typical A-Level Offer

BCC - CDD to include a relevant art and design subject (this is equivalent to 104-80 UCAS tariff points).

Typical Welsh BACC Offer

Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C/D in the Skills Challenge Certificate and BC - CD at A Level with a relevant art and design subject (this is equivalent to 104-80 UCAS tariff points).

Typical BTEC Offer

Typical IB Offer

Pass the International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum score of 29 overall including 5 or above in English at standard level

Typical Access to HE Offer

Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points

Additional Requirements

GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances

International Entry Requirements

We also welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications. Please visit the country specific pages on our international website for exact details.

English Requirements

In general, international applicants will need to have achieved an overall IELTS grade of 6.0 with a minimum score of 5.5 in each component.

However, if you have previously studied through the medium of English IELTS might not be required, but please visit the country specific page on our international website for exact details. If your country is not featured please contact us.

August
2020
- July
2021
Fees

Full-time UK and EU:
£9000

Full-time International:
£13200

August
2021
- July
2022
Fees

Full-time UK and EU: TBC

Full-time International: TBC

Additional Costs

Students have access to a wide range of resources including textbooks, publications, and computers in the University’s library and via online resources. In most cases they are more than sufficient to complete a course of study. Where there are additional costs, either obligatory or optional, these are detailed below. Of course students may choose to purchase their own additional personal resources/tools over and above those listed to support their studies at their own expense. All stationery and printing costs are at a student’s own expense.

UK and EU students

Apply via UCAS if you are a UK/EU residing applicant, applying for year one of a full-time undergraduate degree, Foundation Year, Foundation Degree or HND and you have not applied through UCAS before. If you are applying to study part-time, to top up your Foundation Degree or HND, or to transfer to USW from another institution, please apply directly.

Our Careers and Employability Service

This includes: one-to-one appointments from faculty based Career Advisers, in person, over the phone or even on Skype and through email via the "Ask a Question" service. We also have extensive online resources for help with considering your career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Resources include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, interview simulator and application help. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students, you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs.

Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.

Full-time

Our Cardiff Campus is right in the city centre – the perfect home for our creative industries students. We’ve just finished a new phase of campus investment and development, so we can offer even more specialist facilities.